The Federal Republic of Walist is a titanic, cultured nation, ruled by 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 with an iron fist, and notable for its anti-smoking policies, smutty television, and vat-grown people. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless population of 17.965 billion 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The relatively small, corrupt, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Environment, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘄𝗮𝘆. The average income tax rate is 24.7%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The all-consuming 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻 economy, worth a remarkable 2,873 trillion Dollars a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is an enormous, deeply entrenched, quite specialized black market in Information Technology, Retail, Tourism, and Gambling. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is an impressive 159,950 Dollars, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The government is spending serious cheddar protecting sewer rats, government-sponsored WiFi allows farmers to rant about city folks in real time, making up random numbers to name new asteroids is the bulk of astronomers' work, and lonely people are supposed to be cheered up by the many parties that they are never invited to. Crime is all-pervasive. Walist's national animal is the 𝐓𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗺.

Walist is ranked 27,057^th in the world and 1,205^th in Lazarus for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 265.14 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.